who made the first minivan?

Answer 1

Dodge put out the first "minivan" in 1983.

Interesting note - The man who developed the idea for the minivan worked at Ford and proposed the concept to senior management. They dismissed the idea and the engineer went to Chrysler, who brought it to market. Think Ford doesn't wish they had a "do-over" on that one??

Answer 2

the first minivan ever is often attributed to the Chrysler corporation. However, this is not the case. The minivan was invented in 1935 by a man named William Stout. It was called the Scarab. The concept behind it was a theme of a truly "mobile office" -- a place where one could be driven and work at the same time with amenities on par with airliners of the time. However, only nine examples of the Scarab were ever produced, as it was considered to be too radical and "modern" for its time. After this, minivans took a long hiatus, with the next model appearing in 1950 in the form of the very popular Volkswagen Type 2, or micro-bus.

1936 Stout Scarab
The extreme popularity of the Type 2 led American manufacturers to try breaking into this new minivan market. The first was General Motors, in 1960 with its Corvair Greenbrier, but it was never anywhere near as successful as the Type 2 and became nothing more than a footnote in minivan history. The first US automaker to really capture the minivan market was Chrysler with its Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager models in 1984. These models brought costs down and made minivans an affordable option for parents and families, eventually becoming the transportation of choice of many Americans. There have been over 12 million Chrysler minivans sold as of model year 2008. Other popular minivans include the Ford Windstar, Ford Aerostar, Chevrolet Venture, Chevrolet Astro, Volkswagen Routan, and Mazda MPV. Minivans are sold in nearly all automotive markets today.

Answer 3

First Minivan

Answer 4

I agree the VW is oldest at 1950. There was a lot of action in that market by the early 60's. By then, in the U.S., there were several minvans on the market in my opinion. Ford Falcon, Chevy Corvair, and Dodge Dart lineups all included minivans with car (not truck) mechanicals and styling. The unique thing about that time period is that those manufacturers didn't make a big van. The vans they made were small, and I think in the case of the corvair especially, it would be hard to argue that it was a truck no matter which way you turn it.

The little Dodge, Ford, and Corvair vans were marketed as part of the lineup of their respective economy cars, and styled to match. The original front-engine chevy van was also just as small as the corvair was. The VW is older than those, and in fact was the inspiration for them.

In Europe, Fiat produced one too, in the late 1950's There may be others that I am not aware of.

Answer 5

The Volkswagen Microbus is generally considered the first minivan, as it came out 20 years before the Chrysler.

The VW wasn't a full sized Van, check the dimensions, similar to the Dodge, much smaller than a full size van.

Jingoism aside, the VW was first!

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
who made the first minivan?

Answer 7

The first one to coin the phrase "mini- van" was Dodge. Vw had the "Micro Bus" 40 years before that (1949). The first true Mini-Van type vehicles were made in japan and Europe--but were classified as MPV's-- They were the first--- But didn't have the term "Mini Van"
There has been a host of Small vans, transports, mini buses, and multi use vehicles that went by different classifications that did the same job--- but the first one to sell it under the classification of "Mini Van" was Dodge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minivan
http://www.vintagebus.com/

Answer 8

Actually it's Chrysler but yes VW had a van so to speak. Chrysler the parent company of Dodge and Plymouth which both put out a mini van in '83

Answer 9

I want to say Volkswagon had their Micro Bus, but Dodge had the first one in America with the Caravan/Voyager/Town and Country model.

Answer 10

Dodge